Truss



OB? UH HUU 28. SURGERY.

J. E. HANSEN Aug. 9, 1938.

TRUSS Filed Aug. 13, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 11v VENTOR BY JIM 5mm TTORNE Y 128. SURGERY.

J. E. HANSEN .'Aug,,.9, 193s.

TRUSS Filed Aug. 13, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOQR Jul/.5 I MJEN TTORNE Y Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED STATES 563MB H! PATENT OFFICE TRUSS Julius E. Hansen, Rochester, N. Y.

Application August 13, 1936, Serial No. 95,789

Claims.

This invention relates to trusses used for rupture supports or abdominal bandages and has for one of its objects to provide a non-rigid truss having a skirt or apron in combination with a flexible and yielding support therefor, the skirt or apron being attached to and arranged on the support so that it will be held to conform to the outline of the body surrounding the hernial openings in order to hold and bind the flesh and keep it flat over the pubic bone and the lower section of the abdomen.

A further object of this invention is to combine the skirt or apron with the flexible and yielding support in such a manner that the pads of the truss automatically adjust themselves over the hernial openings when the truss is applied to the body and thus prevent a displacement of the pads by the movement of the body.

Another object of this invention is to combine the skirt or apron of the truss with leg straps for the purpose of holding the bottom of the skirt or apron against the lower section of the abdomen 7 without discomfort to the wearer of the truss.

Another object of this invention is to provide a truss with which the pads are held over the hernia opening with an even and constant pressure without the aid of steel or other metallic spring members.

A further object of this invention is to provide a truss which will exert a substantially even and constant pressure for the control of the hernia in, any position of the body which the wearer of the truss assumes.

All these and other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will become more read ily apparent from the detailed description thereof which follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the truss.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a simplified form of the truss.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the skirt and pad supporting member of the truss.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the truss taken on the line 4a:-4a: of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line Err-5a: of Figure-3 and illustrates the truss before it is tightened over the hernia openmgs.

Figure 6 is a similar sectional view of the truss as it appears while the truss is being tightened against the body.

Figure '7 is a sectional view of the truss taken on line 5x5x of Figure 3 with the truss in its final position.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of the skirt and pad supporting member of the truss.

Figure 9 is a sectional view of the truss taken on the line 9:v:--9m of Figure 8 illustrating its position before it is drawn over the hernial opening.

Figure 10 is a similar sectional view of the truss after the waist band thereof has been tightened against the body.

Figure 11 is a similar sectional view of the truss after the leg straps of the truss are drawn into place.

The non-rigid type of truss forming the subject matter of my present invention has been found to overcome all of the objectional features of the rigid type of truss in which steel or other metallic spring members are used to exert the pressure for the control of the hernia. In the latter the pressure members or pads need constant adjustment because the movement of the body when in contact with the spring members of the truss invariably cause a shifting of the pressure pads from the hernial openings. In rigid type trusses the spring members which carry the pressure pads are also comparatively narrow and their pressure therefore causes the flesh surrounding the hernia openings to bulge out around the pad and the spring member providing an ineflicient as well as an insightly support of the flesh immediately surrounding the hernia openings.

As illustrated in the figures of the drawings the nonrigid truss comprises the elastic waist band or belt I which is detachably and adjustably connected at the rear of the truss by means of a suitable buckle 2. Suspended from the front of this waist band and suitably attached thereto, as will hereinafter be described, is the skirt or frontal member 4 of the truss which comprises a. double thickness of a suitable soft fabric having a pair of spaced extensions 5 and 6 of gradually decreasing width depending therefrom. Between the two thicknesses of these extensions are sewed the ends of the leg straps 1 and 8 which are adapted to be adjustably secured to the elastic waist band or belt I by means of suitable buckles 9, 9.

In the form of the truss illustrated in Figures 3 to 7 inclusive the skirt or frontal member 4 of the truss is firmly sewed to the elastic waist band or belt I along the top edge of the waist band with a suitable binding I0 covering this connection.

The waistband is fastened between the two layers of the skirt at the ends and the middle thereof and to make this possible the inner layer 4A of the skirt is slitted at H, I2, [3 and I4 and the waist band extends to the rear of the skirt thru these slits to have two sections thereof exposed at the rear of the skirt, one on each side of the middle of the skirt. The skirt and waist band are sewed together at the ends and the middle of the skirt by suitable stitching and are left separated otherwise except along the top edge of the waist band.

In this way, the skirt portions which are in line with the leg straps are fastened to the waist band only at the top edge so that a downward pull on the leg straps from the loose position of the skirt illustrated in Figure 5 to the position illustrated in Figure 6, will pull the upper bound edge of the waist band outwardly and cause the waist band to assume the angular position illustrated in Figures 6 and '7.

The waist band is perforated intermediate its exposed sections at the rear of the skirt to have the shanks of the screws !6, it pass therethru and engage the pads H, i! to clamp these pads against the back of the waist band and hold them anchored thereto so as to project rearwardly thereof.

In the application of the truss the waist band is placed around the body to have the skirt extend over the lower portion of the abdomen with the hernia pads located over the hernia openings. The leg straps l and 8 are then passed thru between the legs and suitably adjusted and fastened to the waist band to draw the skirt over the lower portion of the abdomen and at the same time tilt the waist band portions carrying the hernia pads, as above described, so as to cause these pads to tilt with the band and exert their pressure upwardly at an angle in line with the hernia openings while the lower portion of the skirt forces back the protruding flesh of the abdomen as illustrated in Figure '7. In addition the central portion of the waist band and skirt keeps the flesh over the pubic bone from protruding so that the immediate area of the abdomen surrounding the hernia openings is held in a naturally fiatv form while the pads exert a constant and an even pressure over the hernia openings.

As the body moves, the waist band portions carrying the hernia pads and the skirt remain in their original position because any movement of the body simply causes an expansion of the waist band and cannot dislocate the skirt which keeps the hernia pads in their proper position.

In the modification of the truss illustrated in Figures 8 to 11 inclusive the bottom edge of the waist band is tightly sewed to the skirt over the entire width of the skirt while the top edge is fastened to the skirt only at the ends and the middle of the skirt as illustrated in Figure 8. In this way the bottom edge of the waist band is kept from expanding while sections of the waist band on either side of the middle of the skirt are free to expand when the waist band is drawn taut around the body. The bottom edge of the waist band behind the skirt will therefore remain fixed in length while the upper portion of the waist band can stretch and increase its length. With the waist band placed around the body so that the skirt is located over the lower portion of the abdomen, a tightening of the waist band will thus expand the portion thereof which is fastened to the skirt above the bottom edge, while the bottom edge which cannot expand is drawn tightly against the abdomen. This uneven expansion of the waist band behind the skirt causes the waist band to assume an angular position and hold the truss pads in this angular position against the hernia openings while the'lower portion of the skirt holds the flesh flat over the lower abdomen.

In the simplified form of truss illustrated in Figure 2 the skirt is eliminated and instead a portion of the bottom edge of the waist band is bound by means of the binding to keep this portion of the bottom edge from expanding when the waist band is tensioned around the body. The waist band will thus assume an angular position over the length of the binding as described in connection with the truss illustrated in Figures 8 to 11 inclusive when tensioned around the body.

The truss may be used as an abdominal bandage and when so used the truss pads are eliminated.

While I have shown the skirt 4 attachedto the waist band at the middle thereof in Figures 1, 3 and 8 this fastening may be omitted so that the skirt and waist band are fastened together only along one edge of the waist band and at each end of the skirt.

I claim:

1. A truss comprising an elastic waist band, substantially non-elastic means fastened to and extending along one edge of said waist band to keep said edge from stretching and cause said waist band to yield laterally and stretch longitudinally to one side of the non-elastic edge thereof, thereby causing the elastic waist band to assume a transversely angular position when tensioned against the body of the wearer of the truss and a truss pad carried by said waist band in the laterally yielding section thereof.

2. A truss comprising an elastic waist band, a skirt attached to the upper edge of said waist band and extending over the waist band to make the upper edge of the waist band substantially non-stretchable along the skirt, a leg strap extending from said skirt and attachable to said waist band, and a truss pad attached to said waist band at the back and intermediate the nonstretchable edge thereof.

3. A truss comprising an elastic waist band, a substantially non-stretchable skirt attached to the upper edge of said waist band and the middle thereof with a portion of the skirt extending loosely over the waist band on each side of the middle of the skirt to make the upperedge of the waist band substantially non-stretchable along the skirt, leg straps extending from said skirt to draw the skirt downwardly from the substantially non-stretchable upper edge of the waist band after being tensioned against the body of the wearer and twist the waist band into an angular position, and a truss pad attached to the back of the waist band in back of the skirt.

4. A truss comprising an elastic waist band, a skirt attached to the bottom edge of said waist band substantially the full width of said skirt to make the bottom edge of the waist band nonstretchable substantially the full width of said skirt and provide for the expansion of the waist band above the non-stretchable bottom edge, leg straps depending from said skirt and attachable to said waist band and a truss pad attached to the back of said waist band above the nonstretchable bottom edge thereof.

5. A truss comprising an elastic waist band, a substantially non-elastic skirt attached to one edge thereof to keep a section of the edge of the waist band from stretching and cause said waist band to yield laterally and stretch longitudinally to one side of the non-stretchable edge and along the skirt, thereby causing the waist band to assume a transversely angular position along the skirt when tensioned against the body of the wearer of the truss and means for connecting the bottom of the skirt to the waist band to hold the skirt in substantially the same transversely angular position against the body of the wearer of the truss, and a truss pad carried by saidwaist band on its laterally yielding and longitudinally stretching section.

JULIUS E. HANSEN. 

